Vowels נִקּוּד niqqud
All Hebrew letters are consonants. Vowels are shown by dots and dashes below or above a letter, or inside ו. Hebrew calls these signs נִקּוּד (niqqud, “pointing”). There are only five sounds — a, e, i, o, u — but several signs for the same sound, each with its own name and length. This page shows the vowel signs one by one in words actually used in Genesis 1–2.
“pointing” — from the root נ-ק-ד (dot)
Colour key blue = added at the front · orange = added at the end · purple = a mark inside (dot · doubled letter · changed vowel) · underline = the word this page is about
1What the vowel signs are
The Hebrew Bible was first written with consonants only. The pronunciation was taught and passed on by mouth. Later the Masoretes (Jewish scholars who guarded the text, roughly AD 600–1000) recorded that pronunciation by adding dots and dashes around the letters, without changing a single consonant. These are the vowel signs.
Most vowel signs sit below the letter (בָ בֵ). ֹ (o) sits at the upper left, and וּ (u) is a dot inside ו. Read the consonant first, then the vowel under it: בָּ = b + a = “ba.”
2Where the name comes from — נִקּוּד niqqud
נִקּוּד (niqqud) comes from the root נ-ק-ד, as in נְקֻדָּה (nequddah, “dot”), and means “pointing,” because the vowels are shown by dots.
Most vowel names contain their own vowel: the first vowel of קָמַץ (qamats) is qamats ָ; the vowels of צֵירֵי (tsere) are tsere ֵ; the first vowel of סֶגּוֹל (segol) is segol ֶ. Saying the name teaches the sound.
Some names are commonly explained as describing the mouth: פַּתַח (pataḥ) “open,” קָמַץ (qamats) “close a little.”
3At a glance — five keys to reading the vowels
- 1. Vowel after consonantA sign is sounded after the consonant it belongs to — בָּרָא (Gen 1:1) = ba-ra.
- 2. Five soundsa (ָ ַ) · e (ֵ ֶ) · i (ִ) · o (ֹ) · u (ֻ וּ). Different signs often share a sound.
- 3. Long and shortTraditional grammar divides the vowels into long and short. Length tells how a vowel changes when a word changes.
- 4. Vowel lettersו י ה may help a vowel instead of being a consonant — the ו of אוֹר (’or, 1:3) is “o.”
- 5. Reduced vowelsVery short, reduced vowels are written with sheva ְ and the ḥatefs ֲ ֱ ֳ (see Sheva and ḥataf).
4The vowel signs — name · sound · length
Each sign is shown on the letter ב. “Length” is the traditional classification; in reading today, signs in the same sound row are usually pronounced alike.
| Sign | Hebrew name | Transliteration | Sound | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| בָ | קָמַץ | qamats | a | long |
| בַ | פַּתַח | pataḥ | a | short |
| בֵ | צֵירֵי | tsere | e | long |
| בֵי | צֵירֵי + י | tsere yod | e | long (with vowel letter י) |
| בֶ | סֶגּוֹל | segol | e | short |
| בִ | חִירִיק | ḥireq | i | short |
| בִי | חִירִיק + י | ḥireq yod | i | long (with vowel letter י) |
| בֹ | חוֹלָם | ḥolam | o | long |
| בוֹ | חוֹלָם + ו | ḥolam vav | o | long (with vowel letter ו) |
| בָ | קָמַץ חָטוּף | qamats ḥatuf | o | short (same shape as qamats) |
| בֻ | קֻבּוּץ | qubbuts | u | short |
| בוּ | שׁוּרוּק | shuruq | u | long (a dot inside ו) |
Both are “a,” but ָ (qamats, a small T) and ַ (pataḥ, a single dash) are different signs. Both are “e,” but ֵ (tsere, two dots side by side) and ֶ (segol, three dots) differ.
5a and e — real examples from the Bible
Look beneath the colored letters.
bara — (he) created
בָּ (b + qamats a) + רָ (r + qamats a) + א (silent). Two qamats ָ: ba-ra. The final א has no vowel and is silent.
YLVIn beginning (bereshit) God created the heavens and the earth.
mayim — waters
מַ (m + pataḥ a) + יִ (y + ḥireq i) + ם. Pataḥ ַ is a single dash; it sounds “a,” like qamats.
YLVAnd God said, "Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide between waters and waters."
’et — (direct object marker)
אֵ (silent א + tsere e) + ת. Tsere ֵ is two dots side by side. א is silent, so only “e” is heard.
YLVIn beginning (bereshit) God created the heavens and the earth.
ben — between
בֵּ (b + tsere) is followed by the vowel letter י, writing the tsere “full” (tsere yod). The י has no vowel of its own, so it is not a consonant but a vowel helper.
YLVAnd God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided between the light and between the darkness.
‘erev — evening
עֶ (ayin + segol e) + רֶ (r + segol e) + ב (no dot, v). Segol ֶ is three dots (two above, one below). Stress the first syllable: ‘E-rev (see Segolate nouns).
YLVAnd God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, day one.
6i, o and u — real examples from the Bible
mittaḥat — from under
מִ (m + ḥireq i). Ḥireq ִ (one dot) without a following י is a short “i.” The next letter תּ is doubled, closing the syllable: mit-taḥat.
YLVAnd God made the firmament, and divided between the waters which were under the firmament and the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so.
’elohim — God
הִ (h + ḥireq) is followed by the vowel letter י, a long “i” (ḥireq yod). This one word has three vowels: אֱ (ḥataf segol, a brief “e”) · לֹ (ḥolam “o”) · הִי (ḥireq yod “i”).
YLVIn beginning (bereshit) God created the heavens and the earth.
haḥoshekh — the darkness
חֹ (ḥ + ḥolam o). Ḥolam ֹ is one dot at the upper left of a letter. The dot at the upper right of the next שׁ marks shin (sh); it is not a vowel. The הַ in front is the article “the.”
YLVAnd God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided between the light and between the darkness.
’or — light
א (silent) + וֹ (ḥolam vav “o”) + ר. Here ו is not v but a vowel letter for “o,” with the ḥolam dot on top. It sounds the same as the “o” of חֹשֶׁךְ (ֹ alone); only the spelling differs.
YLVAnd God said, "Let there be light," and there was light.
vaykhullu — and (they) were finished
כֻ (kh + qubbuts u). Qubbuts ֻ is three slanting dots, a short “u.” The final וּ is shuruq, a dot inside ו, a long “u.” Both kinds of “u” are in one word.
YLVAnd the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their host.
tohu — formless
תֹ (t + ḥolam “o”) + הוּ (h + shuruq “u”). Shuruq וּ is a dot inside ו, serving as the vowel of the consonant ה before it. The ו is not read as v here.
YLVAnd the earth was formlessness and emptiness, and darkness was upon the face of the deep, and the spirit (ruach) of God was hovering upon the face of the waters.
7Vowel letters — when ו י ה help a vowel
Long before the vowel signs, Hebrew borrowed the consonants ו י ה (sometimes א) to show long vowels. These are the vowel letters (Hebrew אִמּוֹת קְרִיאָה immot qeri’ah, “mothers of reading”; Latin matres lectionis).
ו → “o” (וֹ, אוֹר 1:3) or “u” (וּ, תֹהוּ 1:2). י → “i” (ִי, אֱלֹהִים 1:1) or “e” (ֵי, בֵּין 1:4). ה → a final “a · e · o” (לָיְלָה laylah 1:5 — the final ה is silent).
So the same “o” can be written with ֹ alone (חֹשֶׁךְ) or with וֹ (אוֹר). The first is called “defective spelling” (כְּתִיב חָסֵר ketiv ḥaser), the second “full spelling” (כְּתִיב מָלֵא ketiv male). The meaning is the same.
How to tell: if the ו or י has its own vowel sign, it is a consonant (the first י of יְהִי 1:3 = y). If it has no vowel and only supports the vowel of the letter before it, it is a vowel letter.
8Qamats ḥatuf — when the same ָ is read “o”
When the sign ָ, identical to qamats, stands in an unstressed syllable closed by a consonant, it is read as a short “o.” This is qamats ḥatuf (קָמַץ חָטוּף, “hurried qamats”) or qamats qatan (קָמַץ קָטָן, “small qamats”).
kol — every, all
כָּ + ל. Joined by a maqqef (־) to the next word, it loses its stress, and the syllable is closed by ל. So ָ is a short “o,” not “a” — kol, not kal (see Maqqef).
YLVAnd God created the great sea-creatures (tannin), and every living soul (nephesh) that creeps, with which the waters swarmed, after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind; and God saw that it was good.
kanaf — wing
A contrast in the same verse: both ָ here stand in an open syllable (כָּ) or the stressed syllable (נָף), so they are ordinary qamats, “a.” The same sign is read differently by the shape of the syllable.
YLVAnd God created the great sea-creatures (tannin), and every living soul (nephesh) that creeps, with which the waters swarmed, after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind; and God saw that it was good.
le‘ovdah — to work it
The בְ after עָ has a silent sheva, closing the syllable “‘ov,” and the stress is on the last syllable “dah.” So the ָ of עָ is read “o.” The infinitive construct of ע-ב-ד (serve, work) with “it” (הּ).
YLVAnd YHWH God took Adam and put him in the garden of Eden to work (avad) it and to keep it.
9Furtive pataḥ — an “a” sounded before a final ח or ע
When a word ends in ח or ע (or הּ) and the vowel before it is not “a,” a pataḥ ַ is written under that letter. This pataḥ is sounded before the letter. It is called furtive pataḥ (פַּתַח גְּנוּבָה pataḥ genuvah, “stolen pataḥ”).
veruaḥ — and the Spirit (wind)
ר + וּ (u) + חַ. Letter by letter it would be “ru-ḥa,” but the furtive pataḥ sounds before the ח: ru-aḥ. An “a” slips in between “u” and the deep ח.
YLVAnd the earth was formlessness and emptiness, and darkness was upon the face of the deep, and the spirit (ruach) of God was hovering upon the face of the waters.
10Reduced vowels — sheva and the ḥatefs
Besides the vowels above there are very short, reduced vowels: two vertical dots ְ (sheva), and three ḥatefs that join a sheva to a short vowel — ֲ (ḥataf pataḥ “a”) · ֱ (ḥataf segol “e”) · ֳ (ḥataf qamats “o”).
Examples: the בְּ of בְּרֵאשִׁית (1:1) is a very short “be,” the אֱ of אֱלֹהִים (1:1) a short “e,” the אֲ of אֲשֶׁר (1:7) a short “a.” When they are sounded and when not is explained on the Sheva page.
11Easy to confuse
ָ is not always “a.” In an unstressed closed syllable it is qamats ḥatuf, “o” (כָּל kol, 1:21). The transliteration in a lexicon or the word analysis settles it.
וּ can be two things. It is either the vowel “u” of the letter before (shuruq, תֹהוּ) or, at the very start of a word, “and” by itself (וּבֵין 1:4). Both sound “u” (see Conjunction waw).
Tell the upper dots apart. A dot at the upper left of a letter is ḥolam “o” (חֹ); the dots at the upper right or left of ש mark shin or sin (שׁ שׂ). The dot at the upper left of ש sometimes doubles as the ḥolam.
Same sound, different sign. ָ and ַ (a), ֵ and ֶ (e) are read alike today but behave differently when a word changes. When learning grammar, read the signs exactly.